Tag Archives: palmiers

Well, it seems as though this post is unfashionably late for V-day, but ah well, it was a busy day…After witnessing my friends getting married at the courthouse, I dropped my phone in one of their toilets, bought a $15 replica of said phone, went home and napped for a bit. Quite eventful. (my v-day present from shaun was him entering the room marked “women”, digging out the phone from the depths of the toilet and saving the sim card… my hero) (he claimed to have only done it beacause he was worried I was going to flush it and break their pipes. Meeee? Nooo…)

Anyways… I can still recount the highly recountable sweets I made; Palmiers. To put it into perspective how much I adored these cookie-esque pastries… I originally had made them with the thought in mind I could give them as a gift to my recently lawfully wedded friends. Instead, I devoured them. All of them, except two. Which I pressed into the palms of my friends, with a look that said: take good care of these. This is also coming from a someone who generally only tastes their own creations, rarely ever gorging on them. (Chocolate nut paste is the other exception…Ah, peanut butter crispies, alright so there’s a few) If that’s not enough to convert you visualizers, imagine… a very glorious golden sunset. Only the sun tastes like luscious butter and sticky sweet carmelized sugar and it’s flaky golden layers are setting (melting) into the horizon of your mouth. (oh baby?)

The relatively easy part of these are putting them together… It can at the minimum consist of two ingredients (sugar and puff pastry) or it can be more complex depending upon your taste buds. (they can even be made savory) I enjoy mine with added cinnamon, and a sprinkle of turbinado sugar on top. I do not like very sweet things, at all. When I tried a recipe that called for a full cup of sugar I still enjoyed them, but they had a sickeningly sweet aftertaste to me, so from now on I will probably only use 3/4 a cup per batch. If you like the sweet then I suppose you could keep it as such.

Palmiers (Palm-ee-A s)

Puff Pastry

3/4 cup – 1 cup sugar (depending on taste)

16 oz (1 lb) puff pastry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F; have ready an ungreased pan; silicone mats or parchment paper are not necessary.

Generously dust your work space with half of the sugar. Place (defrosted) puff pastry on top of sugar and roll into a large rectangle.(about 1/8 inch thick) Put the rest of the sugar evenly over the dough and press it in using your hands (you can also roll it in with your pin)

Using a sharp knife slice into 1/2 pieces and place about an inch apart from eachother. They need space to expand, but if you place them within just the right length from eachother it will keep them from opening too much.

Bake for 10 minutes and then check to see if they are ready to be flipped. Look underneath one or two of the bottoms of the cookies; if the sugar is golden brown and caramelized they are ready to be flipped. If not they need a few more minutes. They are done when both sides are golden brown and caramelized (It usually takes mine about 15 minutes total) When they are done, do not let them get cool on the sheet pan or they will stick.

Questions about Palmiers; (figured out by trial and error)

Can I freeze them and bake them without defrosting the dough? Here is a picture of what they looked like when I tried doing that. Hah, what do you think? :P

Does it taste the same if I use store bought puff pastry? Perhaps some kinds… I’ve used pepperidge farm puff pastry and it really doesn’t compare to the stuff I made from scratch. Anyhow, the quick puff pastry is much simpler to do than I thought it would be.

Why don’t I use a silicone baking mat or parchment paper? I originally tried using my silicone baking mat, but it deformed the shapes a bit and made them spread too much. The parchment paper or greasing is unneccessary because the cookies are buttery enough to keep from sticking.

On a side note, I would like to start eating more toast. Particularly toast with avacado and possibly an egg on it. I think I would, if I didn’t have to make the bread. (I’ve forbidden myself to buy premade bread as an incentive to start baking my own. So far, not working. Perhaps positive reinforcement would have better results…)

On a side side note, I will begin to include here some of my favorite quotes/excerpts I wish to remember, from the book I’m currently reading: the ultimate hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy.

“Arthur prodded the mattress nervously and then sat on it himself: in fact he had very little to be nervous about, because all mattresses grown in the swamps of Sqornshellous Zeta are very thoroughly killed and dried before being put to service. Very few have ever come to life again.”

“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don’t know the answer.”

“It has been said that Vogons are not above a little bribery and corruption in the same way that the sea is not above the clouds. When he heard the words integrity or moral rectitude he reached for his dictionary.”